Shifting jack for longwall coal planing machines



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 (UlLHEl.

Dec. 7, 1954 w. LOBBE I SHIFTING JACK FOR LONGWALL COAL PLANING MACHINESOriginal Filed May 27, 1948 69 QRMIIU %65 BY J Dec. 7, 1954 w. LOBBE2,696,374

SHIFTING JACK FOR LONGWALL COAL PLANING MACHINES Original Filed May 27,1-948 2 Shets-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR. CUILHELM (.0655 OECEFJBED.

BY ,w J/

ATTORNEY JACK FOR LONGWALL COAL PLANING Wilhelm Liibbe, deceased, lateof fiber-alien, Germany, by Armin Liibbe, administrator, Oberaden,Germany, assignor to Gewerkschaft 'Eisenhuttewestfalia (Eunen);Westphalia, Germany, a firm Original application May 27 1-94s,,senai No.29,484. Rivided, and this; application. May 9,, 1950., Serial; No, 0, 34

Cl ms.pricfltnannficatbn France July 29- 1'3 Claims; (or. 262-8) Thisinvention relates to new and useful improvements in shiftingjack-for-longwall coal planing; machines.-

Qne object of the invention is an improved shifting jack for a conveyorused in the; long: face or long-wall; mining ofcoal and-- preferably fora laterally" flexible sectionally shiftable conveyor of this type.

The foregoing and further obj'eetsof thei be'apparent from the followingdescription read in conjunction with the drawings in which:

Fig. l is aplan viewschematically illustrating a coal mininginstallation having a long face conveyor in, position and showing thejacks'and par-t shifting of the conveyor after the, passage of thecutting means;-

Fig; 2 illustrates parts of: a cross section through a suitable;conveyor and thereto. attached jack member, in accordance with theinvention;-

Fig; 3 is; a top view partlythe. construction showni Fig, 2;;

Fig; 4 represents a plan view ofian alternative embodiment of aconstruction in accordancewith the i'nvention;

Fig. 5* is a cross'secti'onal view connections of adjacent sections;

Fig. 5a is an end view of one of Fig. 5;

Fig; 6. is across-sectional view, of asubstantially rigid connectionbetween adjacent sections; and

Fig. 6a illustrates an end-viewof one of" the sections shown in Fig. 6.

The flexible, trough;

the sections shown in to which the construction, in accordance with thisinvention is applicable is-described'qandclaimed in the co-pendingapplication; Serial Number 29,484, of which this application is a'division,

Referring to the means of the sections-12; the; stationary trough; 11a;Thecoal face is indicated at 10; A- scraper flight conveyor, comprisingis situated within the conveying trough 1111-. As shown in Fig. 2 theconveyor being of the endless type isre turned underneath; the bottomplate of the conveyor trough 11a. Conveyor 11} transfersthe coal intothe-conveyor situated inthe adjacent gallery and which in turn willtransport the coal to a further loadingpoint.

A coal cutter or planer: 16- of the two-directional type is the conveyorbeing; suitably mounted formovement along guided on the conveyor sidefacing the coal seam 10 As theplaner 16 is placed into-cutting;positionand thenmoved along-theconveyor, itwill-breakloose a portion ofthe side of the seam, and the coal cutin this'mannerwill be loadedatithe same'time by the continuingmovemerit of the planer or cu tinghead nto the conveyor-- 11 in which it is continuously transported bythe endlesslyhead has reached" moving scraper bars. After the cutting aterminusposit-ionand- -is-ready.: to be returned for a cutting in thereverse direction, it is necessary. to=- shift-'- the conveyor againstthe face 100i; the coal to-again thereby have: the same assume adistance for cutting position: ofthe planer 16.

Within the preferred embodiment of the invention theshiftingof;theconveyor isaccomplished automatically in sections after each sectionorseries; of

vention will: 7

in cross section of" part of showing laterally flexible drawings theconveyor 1 1 defines bylongitudinal chains 13 and crqss= barscraperssections has been-passed by theplanerso that whemthe same is ready I toreturn the entireconveyor is already: in, position for Alternatively;the arrangement, may: be-

another cut;

' of the supporting column prevented from moving-backward; thewedgingaction of.

"ice

2 uch th t the conveyor is shifted after the. planar 16 passes but is,not shifted on the return stroke, the shifting being, then accomplishedon the movement of the planer 111 thev conveyor in advance of shiftingit a further distance the cutting head and again following the passageof the cuttinghead. In either case, the automatic arrangement withinthepreferred embodimentof the invention is such that, the conveyor isautomatically shifted. to be at all times in guided coal cuttingposition for the planer16.

The shifting jack illustrated in accordance with the in-. of a rack 17preferably two serrated side rails, and having arms 19 and 20 arepivotabl'y secured to the plate 21 by means of pivots,19a' and 2021,respectively. Plate 21 is shown. in dotted lines, and the structureunderneath the plate in heavy lines, for the purpose of illustration.Two

cross bars or pawls 21a preferably connected" by the sidebars22' to formsubstantially a box around" support column 23' are provided forcooperation with the teeth. of the rack 17'. If two cooperating, pawls.are provided they are preferably so arranged in successive alignmentthat they: will" have a distance from one another of half'a rack' toothpitch regardless of" the position. at least" one pawl is, always; inratchet engagement with the teeth of the serrated rails of the rack 17.paWls 21ais preferably such that they form cross bars of the frameconnected by the side members 22 with preferably at least. one of thepawls removable from the frame, to permit disengagement of the framefrom the; supporting; column 25; The shifting of the; conveyor or of aconveyor section i'sactuated by'the. sliding wedge 24 which is hauledby-means; oft a chain 25, secured at 26' in, the base plate 27' in theplaner 16; The base plate- 27 passes underneath the entire widthof theconveyor 11-- so-that wedge.slide.2.4- travels and-returns at the samespeed as the-planer 16 alonggthecoal' face10. Slide.

24 is-guided'on-arailt28, secured atthe back side ofthe' desired, tocoupletemporarily the wedging slide 24iwith the-scraper flight conveyor13, I4 whileltheplaner: is disconnected'at': the upper. or lower, end ofthe coal face 10: In the practical operation of the invention with the.

wedging slide 24' (Pig. 3) assuming for instance a wedging,

position between, the head portion 18 of the rack17 and the sideof theconveyor: 11, the in anchored position by the. pawl. 21a engaging, oneof. the-teeth of the serrated sid; rails 17 andthe outer. face the slide24 will cause. the, conveyorat that point tobe. shifted towards, thecoal face; Movingfurther in the. directionof thearrow; slide 24 lever.20 and rotates the leveraround' its pivot into the position indicatedindotted outline. move towardsthe. conveyor side; thereby pulling rack.'1-7. towards the conveyor, thus again .placing the, rackzheadl18. intowedgingpositiom. When-then, on the returnmovement of thewedgingslide124* together with the. return movement-of planer- L6'the.slide reaches the arm 20,..it

will at first pass underneath the free end 30? thereof.'. It willthen,however, engage the jack-headiengagingendJ ofthe-armwedgingitself-between the, same. and. theside. of" the conveyor thereby:moving the; conveyor. again.

Patented Dec. 7, 1954 e first cutting direction by automaticallyshifting or multiple thereof to thereby assure that" The constructionofthe cross bars orv In lieu; of the particular con-...

rack 11' is firmly. heldi Since the rack. is. thus"- engages'the freeend of,"

This inturn will the head. engagmgarmoflever 20 inwardly, i.' e.,.v

In the continued movement of wedge 24, it will engage the free arm 31 ofthe lever 19 pushing the same out and thereby again moving the rack 17forward into wedging position for the jack head 18. Thus witheachpassing of the slide member 24 the conveyor will be shifted apredetermined small distance towards the coal face at the point or areaat which the jack member and the therewith cooperating mechanism issituated. A multiple number of jack members and therewith cooperatingmechanism being provided suitablyspaced apart along the length of theconveyor, the conveyor will be shifted section after section until,after the complete one way passage of the planing cutter 16, the entireconveyor has been shifted back into cutting position for the planer. Ifit is not desired to shift the conveyor in one shifting motion coveringthe entire distance of shift to place the same again into cuttingposition for the planer, it is possible to accomplish the towards itscutting side.

shifting in stages as for instance by providing several.

wedging slides connected in series a short distance apart. As each slidepasses the shifting mechanism, shifting will be accomplished for thedistance controlled by the thickness of that slide and as the nexttrailing slide again passes the shifting arrangement, another shiftingfor the distance equivalent to that slide will result. Alternatively, ifit is not desired to accomplish a shifting of the conveyor with eachpassage of the wedging slide, one of the levers 19 or 20 may be removed.In that case, the slide when moving in one direction will perform itswedging action and thus shift the conveyor while, when returning in theother direction, will merely replace the rack into wedging position forthe cutting head without, at that time, shifting the conveyor.Proceeding in this manner may be for instance desirable when the coalseam is so high that more coal is cut after each shifting than can beconveniently transported by the conveyor. If, then, the conveyor isshifted laterally only every other passage of the wedge slide, thecutting tooth of the planer passes in one direction without being incoal cutting engagement and thus will not cut and transport coal ontothe conveyor 11.

Referring to the illustration shown in Fig. 4, slide 32 comprises a baserail or bar 33 and a depressible spring pressure skid 34, 35. The twoparts 34, 35 of the skid are joined by a link 36 and preferably a springlink tending to draw parts 34 and 35 towards each other. Part 34 of theskid is pivotably mounted at 38 on the base rail or bar 33 beingsupported by means of shoulder 39 acting as a stop to keep the skid arms34, 35 in substantially spread position. The free end 40 upoln the baserail or bar 33 in slidable engagement therewit When moving slide 32 inthe direction of the arrow 41, the slide is wedged between the conveyorside of conveyor 11 and the head portion 18 of the jack or rack 17 andthe conveyor 11 is thereby shifted laterally in the direction of thearrows 42. Immediately upon completed wedging action, the slide 32engages lever 43 rotating the same about its pivot 43a and therebypulling rack 17 towards the conveyor and once more into wedgingposition. Lever 43 is pivotally mounted on plate 37 by means of pivot43a, and the end of lever 43 extends in a loosefitting manner into theopening 18c in the jack, so that upon actuation, the end of the lever isable to move within the opening. Plate 37 is shown in dotted lines, andthe structure underneath the plate in heavy lines, for the purpose ofillustration. When then the skid moves in the opposite direction, partsor arms 34 and 35 do not engage the jack head for wedging actuationthereof but collapse and lay themselves substantially against the baserail or bar 33, the slide 32 passing ineffectively the wedging head 18.In this manner, the wedge, when returning, does not shift the conveyor.

In order not to interfere with the proper operation of the scraperflight conveyor 13, the conveyor trough should be moved out of itslongitudinal alignment only a relatively little distance at a time. Thisobjective is for instance accomplished by arranging a multiple numof theskid part or arm 35 rests thereof coupled place only at these spots,particularly when using the preferred construction in accordance withthe invention in which the trough sections in between adjacent jackmembers are connected substantially rigidly, i.e., substantially withoutlateral flexibility and only providing jack member abuting sections withlaterally flexible links. This construction is for instance illustratedin Figs. 5 and 6. Figs. 5 and 5a show a construction of abuting sectionswith lateral flexibility. As there exemplified, the sections 43 and 44are connected on both sides by a strap 45 and a bar 46. The reach of thestraps 45, one on either trough side (only one trough side isillustrated) is limited by stop pins 47. On one side, the troughsections 43 and 44 can move in a direction tending to spread them apart,their movement being limited, however, when stop pin 47 meets bar 46. Atthe same time, the opposing abutting trough sections are buckledinwardly with the inner edges of the sections 43, 44 in abuttingengagement. The connections for substantially rigidly securing troughsections in between laterally fiexible sections are illustrated in Figs.6 and 601. As there shown, the trough sections 44 are connected by meansof the bolts 48. A lateral buckling of the trough can then not takeplace at these joints. The connections, however, as will be readilyseen, are such that buckling or slight displacement may take place inthe vertical. This is of particular advantage in that it permits thetrough to follow the depression and ridges of the seam or gallery floor.Though four sectional shiftability has been illustrated in connectionwith the drawings, it is also possible to vary this and make a lesser orlarger number of sections laterally flexible with in-between rigidconnections. Thus, for instance, it may be possible to so arrange theflexibility of the sections in a lateral direction that the conveyor mayadapt itself to certain surface contours of the coal seam which tocertain geological formations and well known conditions may not bealways along a straight line but may proceed along a curved outline ofthe long wall. It is advisable to have the terminal cross sections andparticularly those connected to riving stations substantially rigid andto independently shift these terminal portions such as by moving thedriving mechanism to conform to substantially the all-over position ofthe conveyor from time to time.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus in a coal planing machine including a coal conveyor forautomatically shifting the conveyor toward a coal face to be planed andfor holding the conveyor in its shifted position comprising a wedgingelement defining a first wedging surface disposed on the back side ofthe conveyor opposite from the side on which the coal planing head ofsaid planing machine is disposed, said wedging element being positionedfor movement along the back of the conveyor, at least one jack memberdefining a second wedging surface, anchor means adapted to position saidjack member for wedging contact with said first wedging surface at onepoint along the path of movement of said wedging element, to therebyshift at least a portion of the conveyor in the direction of the coalplaning head, holding means positioned on said anchoring means forpreventing movement of said jack member in a direction away from theconveyor and for allowing movement of the jack member in a directiontoward the conveyor, at least one double armed lever fulcrumed insubstantially fixed relation to the conveyor, one end of said levercoupled to a side of said jack member and the other end thereofpositioned for contact with said first wedging surface after the saidfirst surface made contact with said second wedging surface to therebyadvance the jack member toward said conveyor.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said holding means consist ofpawl means positioned on said anchor means and a ratchet defined by thebody portion of said jack member.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said wedging element ismounted for movement along the conveyor with the coal planing head.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which said wedging element isattached to the coal planing head by means of a flexible tractionelement.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 including at least one additionaldouble armed lever fulcrumed in substantially fixed relation to theconveyor with one end to the other side of said jack member for movementof the jack member toward said conveyor upon contact with the said firstwedging surface of said wedging element after the said first surfacemade contact with said second wedging surface.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 including a multiple number of saidjack and anchoring means distributed along the conveyor and in whichsaid wedging element is connected for movement with the cutting head tofollow said head for wedging engagement and disengagement successivelywith each of said jacks. v

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 in which said holding means on eachsaid anchoring means is defined by pawl means and a ratchet defined byeach jack member body portion.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said wedging element iscomposed of a base member movable along the conveyor, a convexly flexedspring member pivotally secured at one end to said base member andhaving its other end spring pressed against said base member in slidablecontact therewith.

9. Apparatus for automatically shifting a coal planing machine of thetype having a coal conveyor of the endless scraper type having asubstantially laterally flexible trough and a coal planing head movablein either direction along side said conveyor, comprising a wedged shapedelement mounted for movement alongside the conveyor in either directionand in substantially nonaligned relation to the coal planing head, aguide track on the conveyor defining a path of travel for the wedgewhich is disposed on the back side of the conveyor opposite from theside on which the coal planing head of said planing machine is disposedaway from said coal planing head, a multiple number of jack members eachdefining ratchet, and pawl means, each jack member having a head portionon said ratchet defining a wedging surface positioned in spaced relationto said guide track for wedging action by said wedge element, each jackmember having associated means for anchoring said pawl means againstshifting force exerted on said head portion and having a double armedlever fulcrumed on the conveyor with one of its arms coupled to saidhead portion and movable therewith, the other arm dimensioned andpositioned for wedging contact with said wedging element after contactof said wedging element with said head portion whereby each said jackmember shifts its portion of the conveyor when contacted by said wedgingelement and is advanced to a new holding position for further wedgingcontact upon a subsequent contact of said wedging element with the freearm of said double arm lever. v

10. Apparatus according to claim 9 in which said pawl means comprisestwo pawl members spaced apart for engagement one in one groove of theratchet and the other in contact with one land of the ratchet.

11. Apparatus according to claim 9 in which each said jack member hastwo such double armed levers on said head portion one facing in eachdirection of planer head movement, in which said wedge element is adouble wedge element for wedging action in each direction, whereby eachjack member is advanced in the direction of said conveyor upon themovement of said wedging element in each direction.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11 in which said head portion iscoupled to the arm of said levers for limited slidable movement relativethereto thereby permitting wedge shifting of said conveyor while saidjack member remains anchored.

13. Apparatus according to claim 12 in which said pawl means comprisestwo pawl members spaced apart for engagtilment one in a groove and theother on a land of the rate et.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NameOToole OTHER REFERENCES Number Date 1, 17,095 Nov. 25, 1924

